Circulus, Perfecta
by tommyXmaserati
Summary: Set after Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa, Ed and Al are thrown in the midst of the Second World War. The Nazis have breached France's borders and the brothers attempt to seek shelter, until they meet Alyssandra, an archaeologist turned French resistance leader who believes the Philosopher's Stone is located deep within the Parisian Catacombs.
1. Killing Paris

Circulus, Perfecta

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Credits belong to the Dowdle Brothers and Hiromu Arakawa.

"-But when the small part, in this case, me, dies; the body remains. Water. Carbon. Ammonia. Lime. Phosphorus. Salt. Saltpeter. Sulfur. Magnesium, fluorine, iron and aluminum. The body's only a combination of those simple elements, nothing more. We're destined to be decomposed by bacteria and become nutrients for plants. Then you follow the process further...Those plants nourish herbivores, and those herbivores nourish carnivores. Even others like us. And though we lose awareness, our lives keep moving through the system. The great flow that contains the universe! Call it the cycle of life. The course of nature. Each of us is just a small part of that current. One in the all. Yet without all the individual ones, the all can't exist. This world flows by even grander laws we can't even imagine. To recognize that flow, and work within it, to decompose and then create; that, is alchemy."

JUNE 14, 1940

PARIS, FRANCE

Big Brother, Age 35

Little Brother, Age 34

"Paris was on fire in hours. When they came, at first I thought it was thunder in the distance. Lightning travels at around 18,000 miles per hour, easily breaking the sound barrier. The thing with explosions aren't the sound, but the shockwave. I remembered that fateful day where the rain felt perpetual. The day I lost my arm and leg. The day Alphonse lost his body. The day we tried to bring back Mom..."

"Al, get away from the window. You're making me nervous." Edward spoke to his younger brother.

"Somehow I knew that it'd come to this, brother. An entire world at war." Alphonse said silently, with grief.

"We've always been at war, Al. Since we were kids. This is just another obstacle to overcome." Edward retorted with grim indifference.

Hitler and his Nazi army breached France's border and had just entered Paris. The brothers Elric decisively decided to retreat to their subterranean laboratory across town.

"Let's head to the lab. It's safest there, underground. We can take a shortcut through Jean Pierre's cafe." Ed advised him.

"Right."

Jean Pierre was a friend of the brothers and owner of the Hepcat Cafe. A small restaurant where Ed and Al often ate, considering it was only a half mile walk away from their Paris safehouse apartment. Warning sirens began to play as they made their way to street level, the Nazi Luftwaffe shrouding the sky.

"Do you think the French have mobilized ground forces? You would've thought we'd see troops by now." Al shouted over the not-too distant explosions.

"For our sake, I hope they have. Did you bring that pistol Tokarev gave you?" Edward asked, as he was a critical quick thinker and a better shot than Al. Ed kept the gold plated Ruger in a holster concealed in his trench coat.

"I doubt we'll ever be allowed back in the Soviet Union after the last time, brother..." Al reminisced with a chuckle about he and Edward's trip to study shocked quartz near Tunguska, which ended abruptly after Ed got into a literal military ballroom brawl. The Parisian streets were now practically empty as they reached the Hepcat cafe.

"Jean Pierre, open up!" Edward knocked, but the door popped open after only two hits.

"I don't like the looks of this..." Al spoke as he drew his gun.

"Suspicious, no?"

A woman, not much older than twenty eight years of age, approached the brothers from out of the shadows while holding their friend with a gun to his back. Both aim their firearms in her direction.

"Whoever you are, let him go! Now!"

"Nice to zee you, Ed. Al, how are you?" Jean Pierre gently uttered, with nervousness written all over him.

"Easy, mon cher. Don't be hasty." the lady warned in the politest manner. "We've been watching you both for sometime."

"That's not creepy at all." Alphonse sarcastically joked. "And who is we?"

"My name iz Commander Alyssandra Marlowe, former archaeologist, now squad leader. 'Zese men are under my command. We are 'ze French underground resistance and you both are 'ze foremost alchemical experts of the world. I need your help, professors."

"We haven't taught in years, it's just Dr. Edward and Alphonse Elric. Are you going to let our friend go now?" Ed replied in a most serious tone.

"I will, but first, let me explain why we are here. You are aware of 'ze Catacombs, no?"

"Of course. The world's largest tomb, home to the bones of over six million people." Ed declared. She threw him a map of Paris with the Catacombs' vicinity circled in red ink.

"See anyzing familiar, mon cher?"

Ed and Al's eyes lit up in shock and borderline horror as they realized what they were looking at.

"No..."

"Th- this is a Grand Arcanum transmutation circle! But why?!" Al questioned with exclaim.

"You know as well as I do, Doctor Elric; I've read your books. You're not 'ze only ones who have studied alchemy. A transmutation circle underground surrounded by bodies iz not a coincidence, and my research continues to support 'zat theory."

"And what exactly are you expecting to find down there, Commander?" asked Ed, pain and frustration in his eyes. Something deep in his mind already gave him the answer.

"Why, what has any student of alchemy wanted to obtain? 'Ze Philosopher's Stone, bien sur."

But to obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Equivalent Exchange, the first law of alchemy.

END OF PART ONE


	2. Them Bones

Circulus, Perfecta

Ed and Al put their pistols away and gave Alyssandra back the map of the Catacombs.

"You know, they say...searching for the Philosopher's Stone is the Devil's errand. Why do you really want to go down there?" Al inquired.

"I believe 'ze Thule Society iz going to use 'ze stone to make a devastating weapon of war. I've only heard rumors. 'Zey say it can turn night into day, and day into night. 'Zat it burns like 'ze heat of a thousand suns. 'Zey say it's hell on Earth."

"And you want it for yourself, right? For the resistance?" Ed replied, with bitterness.

"Don't be callous, Monsieur Elric." Alyssandra said with a smile. "I want it destroyed. I try to vanquish evil, not be a proprietor of it. But at 'ze end of 'ze day, I will fight fire with fire if I must."

"Heh, militants are all the same." Edward shook his head.

"We should get moving, Commander." spoke a dark haired, taller man apart of Alyssandra's detail.

"I concur, 'ze Nazi patrols could be doing sweeps az we speak." chimed a short haired blonde woman, who visibly carried more weapons than everyone else in the group.

"Right. Doctors, 'zis iz Lieutenant Rey and Sergeant Risa Stallone, my second-in-command and weapons expert of our team. My infantry, Corporal Breda and Lance Corporal Fuerie."

"Nice to make your acquaintances."

"Hey."

Standing before them were the doppelgangers of Roy Mustang's old team from Central Command, with the exception of three.

"I feel like people are missing from the group. Eh, Al?" said Edward.

"You're right, brother. Havoc, Armstrong and Falman. I wouldn't ask, if it's important we'll find out." Al warned his brother, knowing Ed was the type to light a short fuse.

The entourage headed for the shortcut leading to the underground lab. Gunfire echoed in the distance as an armored Wehrmacht element made its way across their path.

"Take cover!" shouted Alyssandra.

The machine gunner began raining down thirty millimeter shells into the building they had just taken cover behind, shattering windows and exploding brick.

"Smoke out. Rey, toss me a frag!" Alyssandra caught and tossed the grenade casually behind her back, killing two of the German soldiers that exited the personnel carrier while Risa quickly ran across the street firing her PPSh-41 from the hip, killing one, but getting clipped in the shoulder by a submachine gun round. She let out a pained grunt.

"Burn, you motherfucker." whispered Rey as he threw a Molotov at the trooper on the machine gun, setting him ablaze. Risa sniped the gunner, putting him out of his misery. She was always more merciful than her husband.

One of the Wehrmacht troopers prepared a grenade launcher but was quickly picked off by Risa, sending the round through the window of third floor, sending glass and debris raining down.

"Say goodnight." Risa whispered.

Al fired a few shots while taking cover from behind a car while Ed devised a plan to distract the onslaught.

"I'll draw their fire! Risa, take out the man on the roof!" he shouted, as he stuck his prosthetic arm out to have a bullet blow off a piece of the underside of his palm. A shot rang out, as Risa sniped the soldier on the roof above them, sending him hurtling down and landing on the car where Al was still providing cover fire. Rey and the rest of the team advance to the armored carrier. Fuerie hopped on top of the hull, opening the hatch and sent a grenade down to destroy the interior.

"Hey Rey, what do you think we should do with this one?" Breda asked as he kicked the rifle away from the wounded troop who was barely moving.

"Sprechen sie English, kraut? Italiano? Francais?!" Rey yelled as kicked the German in the ribs where he was shot, hard. The dying soldier let out a wail and clutched his side.

"What's your secret Nazi weapon, last time I ask."

The blonde haired, blue eyed Berlin native spat blood and stared directly into Rey's eyes.

"Brennen in der Holle, parteiisch hund. Das dritte Reich fur tausend jahre regieren!" he screamed, agony and anger in his voice.

"Maybe later, pig. You first." Rey retorted, throwing an incendiary grenade between the dying German's legs. A fireball ignited seconds later, burning him alive slowly as he writhed. Rey turned away, not looking back for a second.

"'Ze entrance to 'ze Catacombs is a klick away." Alyssandra relayed to the group, putting a cigarette in her mouth. Rey walked past, lighting it for her with his signature Zippo.

The group tactically made their way to the regular tourist entrance of the Catacombs. Upon entering, Alyssandra admired a verse carved into one of the pillars.

"Je prophetisai, comme je l'al commande. Comme je l'al prophetise, il y avait un bruit, et voici. Un cliquetes, et les os se sont reunis, l'os a l'os."

"So I prophesied, as I was commanded. As I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold. A rattling, and the bones came together..." Al translated.

"Bone to bone. Ezekial 37:7..." finished Edward.

Alyssandra nodded, then handed the map to Edward as they made their way to the only corridor left. It was followed by an uphill of bones in a small tunnel, only possible to crawl through.

"'Ze map only lists 'zese two openings into 'ze deeper parts of 'ze Catacombs. I say we take 'ze higher way." she pointed out to the two of them. "'Zat other entrance iz no good."

"Why couldn't we just take the shorter way, which the map says is there?" Ed averted his eyes as he protested Alyssandra's motive.

"You're asking too many questions, uomo basso." Rey uttered under his breath.

"WHO YOU CALLIN' A SHRIMP TOAST MIDGET?! I'M 5'7 AND A HALF, THAT'S AVERAGE HEIGHT!" Edward aggressively growled at Rey as Alphonse held his brother back.

"He didn't say that, brother..." Al reassured him.

"You really want to go down there?" he started, "Our comrade, Le Ravage, was the geologist in the squad. He studied the Catacombs for years, went down every corridor and knew each corridor, EXCEPT, that one. Eventually, he went in, and disappeared. No one who has gone down there has ever come out. EVER." The look on Rey face as he spoke was a mixture of frustration, but also grief.

Ed grunted as Al tried to reason.

"This is their expedition, Ed. Let them lead the way."

"Let us move, yes?" beckoned the commander. She was the first to enter the crawlspace followed by the rest, leaving Fuerie, the last one behind them.

"Fuerie, are you alright?" asked Alyssandra.

"I think I'm...I might be stuck."

"Just move 'ze bones, Lance Corporal. You're doing fine." assured Risa as she pushed forward.

"I can't move, I'm- something's biting me. Something's biting me!" the young partisan frantically called out as the ceiling above the crawlspace began to crack.

"I'm going back!" Breda reverse commando crawled to try and grab Fuerie.

"It's no good Breda, leave me!"

Breda's hand was only inches away.

"I've got you, brother."

As he said his last words while trying save his friend, the upper part of the cave came apart sending heavy chucks of rock and earth down on the two of them as Alyssandra cried out.

"Breda, Fuerie, no! We have to go back!"

The crew barely made it out of the cave as they crawled and clawed their way out of the rubble.

"Alyssandra if we go back we'll all die! There's nothing we can do!" Rey pleaded with his commanding officer.

"Alys, I know. I know." Risa walked up to Alyssandra, putting a hand on her. Tears welled up in both their eyes. Alyssandra placed a hand on Risa's as well to show recognition, walking away as Al noticed something that made the fear of the situation at hand arise.

"...Did- did we just go in a circle? It's that same passageway from before!" Al uttered with horror.

"'Zis...'Zis is not possible-"

"What the hell is going on here?!" Edward interrupted, the shock still settling in.

"I can't explain what's happening here, but all we can do iz keep moving." she spoke with a tremble, but the conviction was there. She really had no idea what was to come.

The four of them entered the corridor revealing a hallway and a pillar with an inscription.

"Barriere d'Enfer. In 1777 an entire street fell into a sinkhole, killing hundreds." Alyssandra ominously conveyed to the group.

There was a sound coming from down the hall.

"Do you hear that?" Al was first to speak.

As they headed closer to the source, the sound became clearer. The source, was a small music box playing a tune with "M.M." engraved on the front in silver.

"It can't be..." Risa approached the music box to touch it. Before she could, the box opened, showing a ballerina in a white dress. Only, the ballerina's head was broken and barely hanging off the shoulders.

"Rey, why iz 'zis here? How can 'zis be here?" Risa asked her husband, stricken with confusion and anxiety.

"What is that, Risa?"

"Edward..." Alyssandra stopped him.

"'Zis was my sister's." Risa continued. "Her name was Michelle. She died when we were little." She put a hand over her mouth as Rey caressed her shoulders.

Barking from a dog could be heard from around the corner with the sound of small steps, followed by a slight ringing. They each made their way to investigate, and what they saw left them all as frozen as ice.

"Rey...Risa...I've missed you."

It was Le Ravage, the spitting image of Havoc, sitting on the edge of a stone fixture.

"Ravage...You vanished, we haven't seen you in years!" Rey orated to his long lost friend.

"I don't believe it..." Risa clutched her chest as Ravage walked toward them.

"You shouldn't have come, you both. None of you should have come. 'Zis place...'zis place iz Death."

END OF PART TWO


	3. Wunderland

Circulus, Perfecta

"'Zis is your search party? I only waited seven years for 'zis day..." Ravage mumbled under his breath as he turned away from them for a moment.

"Ravage...are you okay? You look...different." Alyssandra replied quietly with concern.

She noticed his eyes were almost without pupils and his skin was entirely pale.

"You wish to leave 'zis place, no?"

The group glanced at Ravage then each other and shook their heads at him, not fully knowing what to say at that point.

"Let's play follow 'ze leader..." Ravage grinned with a twisted sort of smile.

Ravage slowly made his descent around the corner but when the group caught sight of him he was all the way down the corridor.

"How can he move like that? He made it down the hall in an instant!" Rey commented to his wife, stunned by Ravage's speed.

"I'm still trying to comprehend how he can zee in here..." she replied to her husband.

Heading deeper into the ossuary, they had made their way to a large well-like hole in the ground covered with a few wooden boards. A bolt action rifle with the name 'Sara Clara' with seven tally marks etched into it was propped up against the wall. Alyssandra walked up to it and held the instrument of warfare like a newborn child.

"Why..." her voice trembled.

"Alyssandra, does that mean something to you?" Ed queried.

"Family heirlooms, everywhere..." Ravage chuckled as he crouched down to remove some of the boards. Picking up a stone, he tossed it in the air a few times before throwing it down the hole, which was well over fifty feet in height.

"'Ze only way out is down, mes amies..." Ravage ominously whispered.

The group said nothing due to the sheer uneasiness of the situation. Alyssandra prepared a rope to repel.

"I'll go first. Risa, give me a hand with 'ze kit."

Risa handed Alyssandra the necessary tools as she and the others began to repel their way into the abyss.

Reaching the bottom, ahead of them was a small canal leading into an aqueduct.

They traversed along the sides until Ed lost his footing in the shallow water. Then, something very peculiar happened.

"I can't hear." Ed started.

"I'm deaf too. Fuck!" Alyssandra exclaimed, reading Edward's lips, knocking and tapping on the stone to try and hear anything she could.

"Brother..."

"What is this shit? Why can't we-" Rey mouthed. But before he could finish, their hearing had returned with a ring in their ears as the flame went out from a blasting gust of wind, putting out the torch Rey had lit. The flashlight Alyssandra was holding blinked on and off as ghoulish, tortured howls coming from every direction filled the aqueduct.

"Arghhh, my head! What's happening?!" Ed cried out, muffling his ears with his hands.

As quickly as the howling and whirlwind came, it ended, but not before the team heard a distorted voice coming from a small opening in the aqueduct.

"Ed...Ed-ward...big...bro-ther..."

"No. Please God, no..." Ed whispered. Al was visibly shaken as well.

Alyssandra's flashlight was still blinking on and off in the darkness as she pointed the light at the corner where they heard the voice. What they each saw was a little blonde girl during the first flash, then the second flash, a dog. The final flash revealed a strange looking dog with a long mane, almost like a woman's hair, with white round eyes. To Risa, it was her sister. To Rey, his childhood pet dog. But in the end they each saw a chimera. They saw Nina.

Smoked swirled around the corner where Nina's wraith had been, then expanded across the aqueduct, causing the five of them to cough. Ravage leaned against a wall, a grimace on his face.

"What in 'ze hell was 'zat thing?!" Alyssandra said in-between coughs.

"You should be asking who, Alys. Not what." Ravage replied, with the same shit eating grin as before.

"What...What 'ze fuck are you talking about?" Alys raised her voice to Ravage.

"Fuck this." Ed interjected. "Let's just keep moving."

"No, we should rest for a bit." Alys added.

"I concur, Ed. I'm exhausted and that's only the tip of the iceberg compared to how I'm feeling right now." agreed Alphonse.

Each of them headed to a section of the aqueduct.

"One hell of a day, eh brother?" Al snickered weakly.

"Hell sounds about right, yeah."

Alyssandra peeked her head around the arch of the wall. "Can I speak with you, Edward?"

Al recognized his cue and got up to explore. "I'll leave you two...to it."

Alyssandra tossed Ed a flask after taking a sip from it. "You must be cold. 'Zis might help."

"Considering where we are, that's a bit ironic." he sarcastically remarked, taking a swig. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Alyssandra paused and sat next to Edward, pulling out her carton of smokes.

"You asked me earlier about 'ze rifle. I haven't 'ze faintest idea how it got down here, but it belonged to my father. 'Ze name on it was my mother's. He was a soldier in 'ze French Foreign Legion."

"Seems like we're all confronting demons down here. What happened to him?" Ed asked.

Alyssandra's crooked smiled faded as she recalled the story behind her father's weapon. "During his last battle, he participated in a raid somewhere in northern Iran. Up until 'zen, he had six confirmed kills. A boy, about nine years old ran towards his platoon with a grenade. He did what he had to do, pulled 'ze trigger and 'ze little boy was no more. Three days later, he killed himself with 'ze same rifle. If only I had known how much he was suffering after 'ze wars...after my mother died...maybe I could've helped him."

Edward's face dropped. He thought of what she had just revealed to him and brought forth his own past guilt.

"That creature before that you saw...it was a chimera. A hybrid of a dog and a little girl I used to know named Nina. Her father, an alchemist, did that to his own daughter. Losing the love of your life can break a person, if you let it. We build our own prisons of no escape."

"Iz 'zat how you felt about Winry?"

The mention of her name stopped Edward in his tracks. He looked deep into Alyssandra's eyes as she glanced down at the cigarette she was about to put into her mouth and took it from her. He lit and took a quick drag before tossing it.

"Tobacco's a carcinogen, Alys. Shit will kill ya." Ed smiled as he put out the cigarette.

"Why does 'zat matter to you, mon cher?" she quietly inquired, staring at him.

"...Because you have her eyes...and her smile."

Alyssandra placed her hand on Edward's and planted a small kiss on his lips. He stopped for a moment, putting his other hand on her cheek as they began to kiss once more.

"I can't deny it. She is truly her counterpart. From the way she dresses, her attitude, her style, her scent and the smell of her perfume...Alyssandra is Winry incarnate. As I made love to her, I was no longer in a desolate limbo, a purgatory of cadavers and remains. I was back in Resembool, lying in a field of Etherflowers with Winry. Love or lust regardless, Alys was the picture perfect re-image of the woman I had fallen in love with and abandoned so many years ago. Out of a lifetime of pain and turmoil, Winry was the one bright spot out of all that chaos. My world in Amestris was known as Shamballa or Shangri-La to some, a heaven. But to me, she was heaven. And like the Etherflower's seed, how it is planted in the Earth and blossoms in springtime; continuing the cycle of life-

I planted my seed in Alyssandra."

END OF PART 3


	4. Trustfall

_**Circulus, Perfecta**_

Edward was already awake before Alyssandra. He used a small mirror to shave his beard, cutting himself slightly. He watched the blood seep from the tiny slit as Alyssandra arose from her slumber to put on the rest of her gear.

"How many doctorates do you have, Edward?" Alys queried.

Edward put down his razor and looked back at her for a second before turning again to answer.

"Just one, in astrophysics. I was given a scholarship at Munich University while I interned and researched rocketry with my roommate, Alphonse Heiderich. After I got my bachelor's degree there, I transferred to Berlin Technical University for my PhD. Took me another five and a half years to get a master's degree in chemistry at University College, London where my father used to teach."

"Do you miss them? Heiderich and your father?" she quietly asked.

Edward fell silent and changed the subject.

"How about you, Commander? You're an archaeologist, you must have a degree or two under you."

"I have a master's in anthropology." she began. "After my father died, I joined 'ze Special Military School of Saint-Cyr and commissioned az a platoon leader. Eventually, I became 'ze executive officer of a mechanic company. I served four years 'zen pursued 'ze rest of my degree. I was close to finishing my PhD, but 'zen 'ze war broke out. I volunteered for a scout command with 'ze Maquis and here I am. I was very fortunate to have 'ze team given to me."

Alphonse returned with Rey and Risa while Ravage remained perched on a stone ledge, playing with his fingertips.

"We should get going if we're gonna cover more ground." Alphonse stated.

"Ready when you are, Commander." said Rey.

"Let's move out 'zen. Ravage, lead 'ze way." Alys ordered.

Ravage skipped down the next corridor a ways until they reached a dead end.

"Pull out 'zis stone to continue." Ravage suggested to the group.

They all became puzzled as Risa spoke.

"'Zat must weigh at least several hundred pounds, maybe even _a thousand_ , and 'zere's only six of us! How could we possibly move 'zat? What if 'ze ceiling collapses?"

Ravage just smiled and uttered a single word;

" _Willpower_."

"It seems ridiculous, but it's 'ze only shot we have." Alys remarked. "He's been down here for a while, he must know how it works."

"Yeah, a while seems like an understatement." Al whispered to Ed. "This fella is a strange one, he didn't sleep a wink the night before, just crouched up on a ledge like a gargoyle and watched us sleep. I don't trust it, brother."

"What other choice do we have, Al?" Ed retorted.

"Well, here goes nothing. Not like we haven't done crazier." added Rey.

The rest of Alys' team along with Ed and Al attempted to move the small boulder, grunting and breathing heavily until it eventually came out of its place in the wall. As it fell to the floor with a loud thud, a small wheel-shaped stone rolled away from behind them, revealing a hole just wide enough to crawl through.

"Amazing." Alys gawked at the inner mechanisms.

"Ladies first." Ed mumbled facetiously, extending his arm as if to lead her to the entrance.

Alys knelt down and began to crawl in. "Give me a little light!" she cried.

Almost nearing the end, she called out to the rest of them.

"Holy shit! Ed, Al, 'ze rest of you, come! You won't believe what I'm seeing!"

The rest made their way inside, gazing up a wide open chamber with none other than the body of a Crusader lying on a stone tablet in the middle of the room.

"He was a Templar knight. Been dead for hundreds of years...but he's not rotting?" Alys confirmed.

"Alys, Al, come here. See this?" Ed piped up. There was an inscription carved into the wall.

" _V.I.T.R.I.O.L_?" Rey asked, confused.

" _Visitae Interia Terra Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem_. A general I used to know named Basque Grand wore the phrase on his battle gauntlets...we called him the _Iron Blood Alchemist_."

"But what does it mean?" Risa questioned.

"It's the motto of alchemy." Al answered.

"Yes. Visit 'ze interior parts of 'ze earth, by rectification, thou shall find 'ze hidden stone." Alys reiterated.

Rey continued to pry. "So does that mean we're here? Where's the stone?"

"Perhaps you should put out your torches, eh?" Ravage sniggered.

"First of all, there's a _body_ on that slab! We-" Rey started.

"At ease, Lieutenant. Listen to him. He's got us 'zis far, and I think we're close." Alys interrupted.

Rey sighed and look at his wife and then back at Alys.

"...Roger that."

They extinguished their torches, but as they did so, a small source of light seemed to reflect from a small pool of water near the edge of the chamber wall.

"'Zere seems to be a path underneath in 'ze water, I'll swim down first. Rey, you follow after me." she instructed.

Alys made her way to the other side, as did the rest. Once there, they glanced around in astonishment.

"'Zis is it. We made it." Alys uttered softly, tears welling up in her eyes. In view of them was another chamber with a cell filled to the threshold with gold and various other treasures along with a glowing red stone planted in a wall painted with images seemingly hieroglyphic in nature. Rey and Risa attempted to open the cell door, while Al followed his brother. Ravage sat in a corner, giggling to himself.

"Something's not right here." Ed ominously muttered.

"Ed, what's wrong? 'Zis has to be it! It's all-"

"This isn't the Philosopher's Stone... _it's a chunk of scarlet phosphorus_." he replied grimly.

"Phosphorus? How?"

"Phosphorus; an element discovered by Hennig Brand in 1669 by distillation of urine which contain phosphates, a crucial part of the anatomy. Some called it the "Devil's Element" as it was the thirteenth of them found in centuries, but also because of its capabilities in warfare. Particularly munitions and ordnance. It comes in different forms: white, or yellow on the inside of the white form, black, violet, scarlet and the colorless pure form. Do those colors remind you of anything?"

"I'm not following, Edward..."

"Yellow star, red giant, nebula, white dwarf, and black dwarf. The life cycles of a low mass star like Sol, our sun."

" _My God_..." Alys covered her mouth. "My father was sent to Iran to secure their phosphate reserves."

"I used to think Einstein's theories were batshit...maybe he was right all along. It all comes full circle... _it's all connected_." Edward slumped himself against the nearest wall as he finished his piece and sat, shaking his head.

"Karma...what goes around, comes around. Wait...Rey, Risa, _stop!_ " Alys cried out.

The married couple had finally opened the cell door containing the treasure, and as they did, an explosion rocked the corridor. Ravage was nowhere to be seen, presumably crushed by the falling rocks. There was ringing in their ears as they searched for each other in the rubble.

"Iz everyone okay?" Alys coughed. "I can't find Ravage or any of our packs with 'ze food, do you think 'zey are trapped?"

"We're good! I'm bleeding a little bit and so is Rey, but we'll recover." Risa hollered.

"I got a better question, where the fuck did that explosion come from?!" Edward yelled, helping his brother up. "And what is-"

Edward spotted a wallet with a picture of Alys and a crest next to it reading: " _ **Deuxieme Bureau Intelligence Officer/Special Agent Alyssandra Marlowe**_ "

"Special Agent Alyssandra Marlowe... _what the fuck is this shit?!_ " Edward spat as he threw the wallet at Alys and drew his gun, aiming at her. The rest drew their pistols as well, save for Alyssandra and Alphonse, creating an old fashioned Mexican standoff.

"I'm so sorry, Edward. I have some explaining to do..."

 **END OF PART FOUR**


	5. Le Saint d'Anger

_**Circulus, Perfecta**_

"Okay, let's not lose our heads here, guys. Literally." Al nervously chuckled.

No one seemed to listen and continued to point their weapons at each other until Ed contributed his say.

"Who all are you keeping tabs on, Marlowe?!" he angrily interrogated.

"Believe me, we would all like to know 'ze same thing, but in 'ze meantime I'm going to need you to take 'zat goddamn firearm off my Commander." Risa stated firmly.

"Stand down, Sergeant! He has a right to know. Edward, I was assigned to be your handler, I'll admit 'zat. But Hohenheim had _ties to 'ze Thule Society_ for Chrissake, 'zey wanted to assess your allegiance."

"I'm _not my father_!" Ed yelled.

Al approached putting his hand on his brother. "Ed, c'mon. Put it down."

He slowly lowered the gold luger.

"Az for you both," Alys began, "I've got nothing to hide. You're my team, I'm still your leader and my loyalty is to France, but we need to continue on. Time is running out."

"So where the hell are we going now? We lost Ravage and practically all of our supplies." Rey pointed out.

"I think I have a idea." Al chimed in as they all set their eyes on him. "The symbol here explains it all, the _Porta Alchemica_ or as some call it, the _Door to the Mystical_."

"What iz it?" asked Alyssandra.

"It's in correlation to the other symbol here. This is _As Above, So Below_. Alchemical legends state that this phrase describes the key to all magic. As above, so below; the microcosm is the macrocosm, on Earth, as it is in Heaven. To sum it up... _as I believe the world to be, so it is_." he clarified.

"What are you saying, Elric?"

"I'm saying if the Porta Alchemica symbolizes a door on the ceiling here, there must be a door down there."

"How? This is the bottom of the Catacombs..." Rey affirmed as Al took a brick sized stone and began to pound a puddle, which poured into a deeper part of the cave's surface.

"Clearly this _can't be the bottom_ of the Catacombs, Rey." Al assured him, making the hole just wide enough to repel down into.

"I'll go first to conduct reconnaissance then, shall I?" Rey looked to his commander for approval, as Alyssandra nodded.

Rey began to descend into the hole as did the rest, leaving Risa and Al.

"What's his story, Risa?" Al asked.

"He's been through alot, Doctor. We both have. I like you, Elric. You seem like a good man, level-headed, not like your brother." she chuckled.

"He's just rough around the edges sometimes." Al smiled crookedly, rubbing the back of his head. "It seems all of us here have been through some shit. _Seen things_."

"He'd be furious with me for telling you 'zis, no doubt, but I feel az if I can trust you. Rey's frequent use of incendiary weaponry stem from something 'zat happened to him during 'ze Great War when he was a boy. Rey's mother left Italy because she felt 'zeir kingdom's ideologies were becoming too fascist which frightened her, so she immigrated to Spain where she met his father. 'Zey were happy. Until 'ze night 'zose savage huns ransacked his village, crucified his parents and burned 'zem alive az 'zey hung. 'Zey even put 'ze family dog into a sack, burning it alive az well." Risa told, anguish for her husband heard in her speech.

"God help me." Al said solemnly.

"My past isn't any happier. I told you of how 'zat music box belonged to my sister, but I never told you 'ze circumstances. When I was a girl, I used to babysit Michelle while our mother and father were away working. She loved 'zat little box and played with it everyday...until one afternoon I was studying and got tired of hearing it so I placed it up on 'ze windowsill where I thought she couldn't reach it...somehow she climbed up to it and fell out of 'ze window, falling two stories and breaking her neck. She was three years old." she spoke, painfully.

"I'm so sorry, Risa."

"Life ends, and war never changes. You know 'zis az well az I do, Alphonse. But Rey and I love each other and 'zat's how we get by." she replied.

"Hurry down you two, there's something you need to see." Alys called.

They continued down the hole, entering a cavern with a passage that could be crawled through. The entrance had lettering carved above it.

"Do you know what it says, Edward?" Alys asked.

"I'm afraid I do. It's in ancient Greek, a phrase from Dante Alighieri's _Divine Comedy_...it reads; _'Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.'_ "

"You've gotta be shitting me." Rey's tone raised a bit.

"What is it?" Risa asked.

"As written by Dante, it's _the inscription over the gates of Hell_." Al answered ominously.

"And so 'ze Lord God said to 'ze Serpent, cursed are you of all livestock and animals," she quoted, already commando crawling into the tunnel. "You will crawl on your belly and eat 'ze dust from the Earth all 'ze days of your life and I will put enmity between man and woman, and between you and all of your offspring."

"Commander, wait!" Rey cried out to her.

Alyssandra and the rest of the group entered the next part of the ossuary, but this time it was same room where they had found the treasure, only one thing was different.

"It's all opposite...'z _is is upside down_." she whispered, touching the As Above, So Below carving.

"What the fuck, _what the fuck_?!" Rey hollered, as he and the others noticed the hole they had just came through vanished and become solid stone. "We've been sent to our doom! _Was this a suicide mission from the beginning_?!"

"Calm down, Lieutenant. I'm scared too. But we have no other choice but to keep moving now. Follow me." she ordered softly, yet firm.

The team had to swim once again to get to their destination. All except for Ed and Al had made it through, as Ed noticed the water around one of his ankles had turned black, almost like ink. It tugged at him as it started to change and take the shape of a hand, then an arm, then the full body of a woman in a dark dress.

A woman resembling Ed and Al's mother.

" _Sloth_!" Ed gargled as the bubbles came up from his mouth, steadily drowning him. Al swam to his brother, pulling him away from the homunculus' grasp, hearing her give a message to them both before surfacing.

"My special boys...come stay with mommy. _You're going to die down here anyway_..."

The brothers crawled away from the pool in shock from what had just occurred.

"Tell me, I'm not the only one who saw that." Ed coughed and wheezed.

"No, brother. You're not." Al confirmed.

"What happened? Are you two okay?" Alyssandra looked back.

Ed and Al shook their heads, but changed their facial expression as Ed pointed to the figure behind Alyssandra.

It was Ravage, standing behind the Templar Knight's corpse which was now rotting. He faced the corner of the wall, his breathing sounding the least bit normal, like how a large, wounded animal would sound.

Risa was the first to attempt to approach him.

"Le Ravage...we thought we lost you. What's wrong? Talk to me." Risa said softly.

"Risa, keep your distance!" Rey called to her.

"Ravage, it's me." Risa slowly extended her hand to him, but was pulled aggressively, dislocating her arm with a sharp crack.

"Argh! My arm!" she yelped in pain as he held her from behind in a headlock.

They all drew their weapons on him.

"Let go of my wife! _You fucking bastard_!"

"Ravage, let her go!"

Ravage's eyes were pitch black as he spoke.

"Why did she choose _you_ , Rey..." he growled in a demonic voice. " _WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE YOU_?!"

Ravage snapped Risa's neck with such force that her chin was past her shoulder.

" _NOOO!_ " Rey screamed as he fired upon Ravage, as did the rest. The sound of her broken vertebrae echoed through the corridor as Risa's body fell to the floor. All of the light in the room went dark from the torches suddenly going out.

"Cease fire, cease fire! Someone get a light in here! Where is he?!" Alyssandra yelled to them.

Ravage was nowhere to be seen once they had lit new torches of their own.

"Risa! Risa!" Rey moaned, running over to be with the woman he married. "No...my love, my heart... _not like this_..."

"Alyssandra walked over slowly.

"I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry..." she started, putting a hand his shoulder which he swatted away from him.

" _Get away from us!_ " he shouted while swatting Alys away, still sobbing and holding Risa.

Alyssandra did no such thing and knelt next to her lieutenant, putting an arm across his back and putting her free hand on his arm, resting her head on his shoulder.

" _Rey_..." Alys wept.

The brothers stayed where they were. Eventually, Alys helped Rey to his feet but not before he put his coat over Risa.

The four of them were about to crawl through the next hole until a loud noise that sounded like a distorted horn could be heard from the other side, echoing through the quarry.

"I had seen two quotes etched into the Catacombs that caught my attention before this madness revealed itself to us. The first; ' _Arrete! C'est ici l'empire de la mort_ ' meaning ' _Stop! This is the empire of the dead_ ' yet we did not heed the warning and I, my brother Alphonse and Alyssandra's team pressed on into the kingdom of darkness. The other; ' _Au son de la trompette, les morts ressuciteront_ '...

 _'At the sound of the trumpet, the dead shall rise.'"_

 **END OF PART FIVE**


	6. Pray

**_Circulus, Perfecta_**

"There was no life inside these caverns. No mice, rats...not even insects. Just us. Alone with Death and our demons."

The unholy trumpet sound echoed once more through the hole that the team would have to crawl through again to get to their destination. Rey was still visibly in shock from just witnessing his wife being murdered in front of him. Alyssandra suddenly stopped abruptly in her tracks once she reached the other side, seeing her father's Legionnaire cap in a dead-end portion of the cave corridor.

"Alys, are you alright? What is it?" Ed asked.

"It's nothing, I'm fine." she looked back, and the hat disappeared. Alphonse glanced at the same spot and saw his old armor that encased his soul many years before. He rubbed his eyes and it was gone as well.

The team had reached the second well leading downward as Rey finally spoke after a long silence.

"It's as if we've been transported to some sort of mirror realm, everything appears to be the opposite of someplace we've already been to, we just keep getting deeper. Once we make it down the well here, we'll be about... _a thousand feet underground_."

They all glanced at him and then each other, soon preparing to repel into the hole. Once they had reached the bottom, they saw two path ways, a narrow hall, and a wall appearing to be a gateway.

"I don't believe it." Ed uttered under his breath.

" _It's really down here_..." Al glared at the entrance of the massive entry way.

"What iz 'zat?" Alys pondered to them.

"The Gate of Truth. The threshold leading to the portal between this world and our world in Amestris. But only through transmutation of a lifeform can one open it, yet it's here..." Ed told her.

The horn sounded again, but this time ushering in tortured screams coming from the other pathway.

"I say we go in. Al, you with me?" Ed asked.

"Rey, 'zey are going to go in 'zere anyway, we should just follow suit. 'Zis has to be down here for a reason." Alys put a hand on her lieutenant's shoulder as she recommended they go with the brothers.

"I'm in this with you 'til the end, Commander."

The brothers Elric walked towards the giant doorway and attempted to pull it open.

"A little help here?" Ed beckoned to the two of them.

Alyssandra and Rey came up to the door and put their hands in the slit, slightly opening it. A bright light seeped through the crack, almost blinding. Once they finally opened the door, the light from inside seemed to consume them and everything else in sight until they found themselves in an all white space with a formless, white figure with a shadowy outline sitting several feet away from them.

"Hello, Fullmetal and Armor Alchemist. I thought it was high time we all had met. After all, your counterparts and I already made introductions..." It giggled.

"Who are you? What are you, and why does your voice sound like mine?" Ed questioned.

"Oh, you'll find I speak like all of you and in your native tongues. Only natural of course. I am you, you are me and together we are one. I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the all, and the universe. Some call me God, but you may call me Truth if you wish." Truth explained.

"You're _the_ God?" Al asked in sheer amazement.

"Unbelievable..." Alys added.

"Rubbish. You aren't what I expected in the slightest. If it's true what you say, bring my wife back to me!" Rey yelled.

"I can do all things, but it would be wrong of me to bring Risa back. How are you any different from any creation of mine who has experienced loss? Life only flows in one direction, isn't that right, Edward?" Truth smiled, turning his head over to Ed.

"Some God. Can't even bring back one woman, like in the biblical days of the bullshit scriptures that your zealous so-called followers wrote! For something so omnipotent, you seem as flawed and careless as any of us!" Rey pointed at Truth, raising his voice again.

"Doubting me won't bring her back, my child. Let your spouse rest in peace."

"Fuck you!" Rey shouted, pointing an angry fist at Truth.

Edward stepped forward to speak with the deity.

"You said earlier our counterparts had met you before. What did you mean by that?" Ed brought up to Truth.

"The number of universes are that of the stars in the sky, the hairs on every head or the grains of sand by the seas. In three of these universes, you all exist. In your old world, things never really changed. The people you know just miss you and Alphonse, especially Winry. You see, in the secondary realm of Amestris, you and Winry are happily married in Resembool, with children. However, in that universe you gave up your alchemy to bring your brother back." Truth verified.

"So what happens now?" Ed wondered to Truth aloud.

"Now you must choose. Only a man and a woman may escape this hell you call the Catacombs. One must sacrifice himself so that the others can live; the choice is yours."

"You said a man and a woman...but there are four of us?!" Rey retorted.

"Precisely." Truth grinned.

"Rey, Ed, Al, come on. Let's get out of here." Alys requested.

"I can't wait to see you all again! Well, I'll be seeing some of you _much sooner than later_ , but nonetheless." Truth waved to them and hummed a tune.

The group turned back the way they came after opening the Gate.

"The only other way is down this corridor." Alys began, as they heard the screams continue and a light coming from the end of the hall, seemingly like lit torches.

"Is everyone ready?"

They nodded, making their way to the source of the sounds and lights. In view of them portrayed three crosses with bodies of a male and a female hung on them. Two of the crosses with the people attached to them burned in a fiery blaze, as did a sack nearby with a creature welping and moving around inside.

"Mom. Dad...Junior..." Rey whispered.

" _Jesus_..."

"Rey, you don't have to see this, come." Alys grabbed Rey's arm, but he stayed.

"No, Alys, I see now. That cross is for me...I must atone." he began to walk towards it, but Alys grabbed at him once more.

"What are you talking about?! We've got to get out of here, together! I need you!" she plead.

"It's okay, Commander. Let me be with my family. _Let me be with my wife_. If it's any consolation, ma'am...it's been a true honor serving under you. _Vive la France, vive les vrais partisans_." he saluted.

Edward stepped in to hold her back. "Rey! Rey! Goddamn it, _I order you_ to come back here! Rey, _please_!" she wailed.

"Oh, and Edward; Truth said you might need this." Rey tossed Edward his prized Zippo lighter.

The Maquis lieutenant continued and stepped onto the small foot platform of the cross in-between his parents. He slammed his hands on the the nails, securing himself on the crucifix as he was lit ablaze by spontaneous fire.

Alys screeched his name as Rey burned on the cross, he cried out for his wife and his lover as he hung, dying. It took both Ed and Al to drag her away from the scene.

"I could have saved him." she sobbed.

"There was nothing to be done, Alys. It was what he wanted." Ed attempted to comfort her, putting his artificial hand on her shoulder. "All we can do is keep moving. On your feet, Commander."

He helped Alys up and wiped tears from her eyes. Alphonse was astonished by the compassion Ed showed her, something he hadn't seen with him in a very long time.

Making their way to the the end of the corridor, they witnessed a tall figure in a hooded black cloak cross their path, appearing to be Death itself. The trio stopped, and stared at each other before departing.

"I'm sorry, Ed, Al. My entire squad iz dead and I don't think we'll last much longer either. I've failed." she sighed, sadly.

"You haven't failed us, Alyssandra. We've made it this far, and whatever might happen to us; the night we spent together was the greatest of my life. I've already died once and I'll die again before either of you do. I swear it." Ed put his hands on Alys' cheeks and brushed her bangs to the side to see her face clearly.

"I'm happy I could be with you too, mon cherie..." she replied, shedding a tear and placing a palm where his hand was.

"Al, come here." Ed hugged his brother fearing it would be the last time he would get to. "I love you."

"I love you too, brother." Al told his sibling and best friend.

"I suppose now iz as good as any time to 'zay any final prayers." Alys chuckled, joining them in their embrace.

"We just made our peace with God, and he's shown us we're on our own. Let's give these motherfuckers the real hell." Ed responded, attempting to motivate his brother and lover as they gathered into a huddle.

"The Elrics never go down without a fight."

"For 'ze Maquis."

Drawing their weapons, they loaded up and prepared to take the onslaught of whatever was to come their way. The three of them managed to sneak past the ghoulish apparition in the hood and found themselves in a corridor filled with ghastly pained-looking faces that were combined with the cave wall and surface of the ground beneath them.

"Should we take the Grim Reaper guy out?" Al relayed to the two of them.

"No, we should just keep-"

Before Alys could finish, a large stone golem came from protruding from the wall along with other smaller stone monsters, the bigger one backhanding Alyssandra to the ground. Alphonse fired his pistol at the creature as he and Ed pulled Alyssandra back up off of the floor.

"No..." she said with a shudder. "It can't be...Brasfort, you came down here too? God, what have 'zey done to you?"

The golem was the counterpart of Lieutenant Colonel Alex Louis Armstrong, or as the brothers knew of him in their world; the Strong Arm Alchemist.

 **END OF PART SIX**


	7. Of Chaos

**_Circulus, Perfecta_**

The large stone golem resembling Colonel Armstrong slowly trekked to the Elrics and Alys. They began to fire their weapons at the monster, but there seemed to be little effect. Other stone creatures began to appear and could be knocked down briefly by gunfire.

"Keep shooting! And if you run out of ammo, well, _hit 'ze bastards_!" Alys shouted as she took down three more stone ghouls.

"I was about to say the same thing!" Ed called back to her.

Eventually, they did run out of ammunition so they began to engage the monsters in hand-to hand combat.

"Tough sons of bitches these guys are, eh?" Al started to say, but was bitten in the neck from behind by one of the rock spectres, he screamed as it sank its sharp teeth into the skin of his neck.

" _Al!_ " Ed hollered to him as Alys used her e-tool shovel to smack the stone ghoul off Al.

Ed ran over to his brother who was now bleeding profusely on the cold ground.

"C'mon brother, _stay with me_! We've _been through too much_ for it to end like this... _Goddamn it_ Al, _you're not dying before me_!" he cried out.

"All our medical supplies are gone...what can we do? Fuck..." she barely audibly asked.

"Ed..." Al coughed. "You have to... _rectify the Stone_."

"What do you mean?" he replied, looking at Alys.

"... _V.I.T.R.I.O.L_..."

Ed glanced at Alys as she said it. He looked at Al again, knowing what he had to do.

"Of course... _it all makes sense_." Ed whispered. "Alys, stay with him! I'll be back!"

"Edward, be careful!" she called to him as he stood to return the piece of red phosphorus to the alternate treasure room. To do this he would have to traverse the bloody narrow pool and the incoming stone ghouls.

"Fuck!" he yelped as he was grabbed by the ankle from one of the hands protruding from the blood-red liquid path. He crawled out of the mush, soaked, finally getting to his feet. He knocked down a few stone golems on the way to the regular water entrance, finally getting to the treasure room, where the phosphorus was kept. He inserted the stone back into its rightful place and took a step back from the hieroglyphic wall.

"I rectified the Stone, now where's the real one?" he thought aloud.

Suddenly, he noticed that the blood he was covered in took the shape of the Grand Arcanum transmutation circle and glowed bright red for just a brief moment, just like Scar's arm tattoo and his brother's armor when he was once a Philosopher's Stone in their realm of Amestris.

 _I understand. By rectifying, I've taken in the souls of the six million people buried here; I am the Philosopher's Stone..._

Ed looked at his hands and felt the newly awakened power he attained.

 _Al, Alys...hang in there, I'm on my way._

Edward clapped his hands, the same Fullmetal style he'd been accustomed to years before, transmuting his father's gas powered automail prosthetic into a mini 50 caliber Gatling gun. He sprayed the various ghouls as he ran, watching them fall one by one to his alchemical weapon. He ran past the slain stone apparitions, finally arriving to the scene of Alys taking care of Al, still fending of the horde. Edward saw this and remembered Paninya, the girl with automail legs that Winry made friends with in Amestris. Her knee grenade launcher application would work well in this situation, so he transmuted the kneecap of his automail leg into a rocket, much like the kind he had learned to build, except with built-in dynamite. The rocket exploded and took out his targets as expected, but the Armstrong golem was still heading in the direction of Al and Alys. Quickly thinking, he pulled the Zippo that Rey had given to him before he made his sacrifice. Edward struck it, and waved it gracefully like he was conducting a symphony. The explosion blew the false stone Armstrong to bits and pieces of rock instantaneously.

"Edward, thank God you're here! Help him, he's not doing good!" Alys called to him.

Ed took his brother by the hand, giving his lifeforce to save his brother. The room glowed a bright crimson as his brother coughed once again and started to rise, now healed.

"Al, I'm here... _we're here_." Ed said to his him, helping his sibling to his feet with Alyssandra.

"Brother, you saved me?" Al asked quietly, still shaken from the attack.

"I told you, I'm not letting either of you die down here." he grinned with confidence.

"Brasfort's golem...it's reassembling itself!"

"Move!" Ed shouted. More ghouls amassed from the shadows.

"There's too many of them!" Al yelled.

 _I promised them I would die before they did._

"Al, listen to me."

Alphonse looked over to his brother.

"I'll hold them back. Please...take care of Alyssandra _and our son_ , you're an uncle now. I'm sorry, brother. This is it." he solemnly explained.

"What are you saying, Ed?!" Al questioned in shock.

"Son? What...Edward, what are you doing?" Alys added, fear and confusion settling in.

Ed clapped his hands together and used his father's light alchemy technique to make a barrier between himself, Al and Alys.

"Brother, stop! You can come with us!" Al cried out as he banged on the light wall. "We're all we've got!"

"I used my remaining lifeforce and the Stone to heal you and allow Alys to have my child. If not, the baby would've been stillborn and she would've died in childbirth. I saw visions of it in the Truth after I rectified the Stone."

"Don't do this! I'm not ready for you to go! _Brother_!" Alys held him back, as Ed gave his last words to his lover and brother.

" _I can't wait to see you all again_." he smiled, turning to fight off the rest of the golems.

"Edward, mon cherie..." Alys gasped as she began to tear up. She held onto Al as to keep him from continuing any further. Edward clapped his hands again, transmuting the cave and sealing it off so that the duo couldn't see him perish as he fought off the stone monsters. Just as the cave closed, Al and Alys saw Hohenheim stepping from the darkness, using his light alchemy as well to help fight off the golem army with Edward so his son wouldn't have to go it alone.

The pair of them ran from where they came, both now stopped at a large well that descended hundreds of feet down.

"Alphonse, I'm so sorry." Alys huffed. "We'll never make 'zat drop...we've reached our end."

Alphonse took a breath and wiped tears and sweat from his face.

"No, Alys. We haven't. We have to rectify, and take a leap of faith. The only way out is down, remember?"

"You can't seriously be thinking-" she began.

"Do you trust me, Alys? I'm not gonna jump without you." he told her with serious calmness.

"Believe in him, Aly. _He'll make a good caretaker for my grandson_."

They both turned. In front of them was Alyssandra's father, still in his uniform. He removed his Legionnaire cap and held it to his chest.

"Papa? Papa!" Alys began to sniffle, tears already flowing as she ran up to hug him.

"You got bigger, my child." he spoke softly.

"I'm 'ze same age as you before you passed." she sniffed and dried her eyes. "I should've been 'zere for you, I should've-"

"Hush now." he shushed her. "It was never your place to save me, I was 'ze one who was meant to be there for you. Can you ever forgive me?"

Alys hugged him for a second time. "I forgave you long ago, papa."

"It's time for you to leave 'zis place now. Survive 'ze war, and raise your boy with Alphonse. He's a good man." he requested of her. "You're going to meet something down 'zere before you're released. Don't be afraid. He can't harm either of you. Now go!"

"Goodbye, papa. I missed you." Alys waved and saluted.

"It's an honor, sir." Al added.

He saluted to the two of them and returned to the darkness of the cave.

"We jump on three-" Al took her hand, preparing to enter the hole. "...one, two...three!"

As the two of them plummeted to the bottom of the well, a various cacophony of howls and ghastly screams echoed as they fell.

It was only a few hundred feet down but their freefall lasted for at least a minute or so. They landed with a thud, and after gathering composure, they looked up to find Edward standing there.

"So you two finally made it, huh? Took you long enough."

Al rose to his feet, stunned at who was standing in front of him.

"Ed?! You're alive! But how-" he began. "Wait...you aren't my brother."

"Astute, as per usual, Alphonse. I take the form of a loved one who has just recently left the mortal realm. Hurts doesn't it? You all met the geezer earlier, I thought you both should meet me too. Name's Lucifer. You can call me Luce." the Devil introduced himself.

Alys got to her feet after Alphonse and crossed herself as she realized she was standing in front of the ultimate evil. "Seigneur, sois avec nous..." she whispered.

"We're not afraid of you, not today, Satan. Alyssandra's father said you couldn't harm me, her or the baby, now show us the exit!" Al shouted.

"As much as I'd like to violently murder you both and rape generations of your offspring, unfortunately you're free to go for now. But you see, you both will find that although this is something of a hell, the real Hell is and always will be of the Earth. Come, see for yourselves." the Old Serpent sneered, pointing to what appeared to be a manhole cover.

Al and Alys walked to the grate and attempted to move it.

"So how 'ze fuck are we supposed to-" Alys turned to ask, now seeing that there was just the two of them.

"He's gone. Come on, help me move it." Al attempted to slide the grate, which for some reason was very hot to the touch.

"Ahh, almost got it. It's burning, Al..." Alys struggled to say. Eventually they were able to slide it away. The air was heated, ash and cinders flew past as they came to a realization looking out of the hole; they were upside-down on the inside of the well.

Taking one last look at each other, they climbed out onto the street level, revealing what the Prince of Darkness had in store for them; pillars of mostly ash or charred flesh frozen in poses of anguish, some holding on to each other, strangers, mothers and fathers huddled together with their children. All dead. The Nazis had firebombed Paris with white phosphorus. In the distance near the Eiffel Tower, the epicenter of the firestorm was a flaming vortex ascending thousands of feet into the sky.

" _We were too late.._."

 **END OF PART SEVEN**


	8. The Circle Is Complete

_**Circulus, Perfecta**_

74 YEARS LATER

PARIS, FRANCE

Scarlett Marlowe, Age 28

"Alright, five, four, three, two..." Benji the cameraman pointed to Scarlett, the topic of his documentary, to signify they were rolling.

"So, a little more about me and my family. As I said before, my father was the world's most renowned alchemy historian. His guardian was a man named Professor Alphonse Elric, his uncle. Now although Alphonse cared for my father and my grandmother, both archaeologists like myself, Alyssandra Marlowe also led factions of the Maquis resistance and was a Deuxieme operative. They unfortunately never married. My grandfather's name was Edward Elric, and legend states that he and my great uncle came from another dimension much like our own, a place called Amestris; only its alchemical transmutation capabilities were said to have evolved into something much like...well, magic." she testified.

"Like _Harry Potter_ , magic?"

"Yes, kind of like Harry Potter." Scarlett laughed. "I know it sounds like a stretch, but I truly believe the Philosopher's Stone is real, and that it's in Paris." she affirmed. "People say that I'm some sort of treasure hunter, but it's- it's not what I'm after, I'm not doing this for financial gain. I'm a student. Of history, of alchemy. It would be of...great historical value."

Scarlett paused and Benji could only manage a single question to ask; "So you simply want the truth?"

"Exactly." her smile faded as she answered. "Yeah, I want _the Truth_."

 _ **FIN**_


End file.
